A pleasant letter from the Police
Discussion
My wife received a letter from the Police calmly pointing out her car didn't appear to have any insurance. They thought this was probably an oversight or a clerical error and they were sure she would sort it out soon, before she used the car again.
With a view to selling the car, I had replaced her plate with the original and forgotten to tell the insurance. The MoT and Road Fund swapped over the moment I clicked the button but I forgot about the insurance.
I was impressed they took such a pragmatic view. 'This letter is NOT a notice of intended prosecution. '
The plates were swapped in May.
Top marks from me to Hampshire and Thames Valley Joint Operations.
With a view to selling the car, I had replaced her plate with the original and forgotten to tell the insurance. The MoT and Road Fund swapped over the moment I clicked the button but I forgot about the insurance.
I was impressed they took such a pragmatic view. 'This letter is NOT a notice of intended prosecution. '
The plates were swapped in May.
Top marks from me to Hampshire and Thames Valley Joint Operations.
I had a similar experience just recently. My car was due to go off to WBAC but was throwing up some warning lights on the dash which obviously WBAC wouldn't be keen on. I dropped it off at a garage and transferred my insurance to my replacement car. I only expected it to be off the road for a couple of days so the plan was to get some temporary cover to move it around as and when needed.
Unfortunately the problem with the car was proving difficult to diagnose and it ended up staying at the garage for nearly 2 months. After about a month, I got a letter from MID advising me that there was no insurance on my car and I should get it sorted within the next 28 days, after which they would check again and then perhaps advise the police.
A few days later a letter from the police arrived, I assume it had been pinged on ANPR whilst the garage was out test driving it, and it was the same as OP described. No action would be taken but they were going to put a marker on it and if it was pinged again then they'd escalate things.
Unfortunately the problem with the car was proving difficult to diagnose and it ended up staying at the garage for nearly 2 months. After about a month, I got a letter from MID advising me that there was no insurance on my car and I should get it sorted within the next 28 days, after which they would check again and then perhaps advise the police.
A few days later a letter from the police arrived, I assume it had been pinged on ANPR whilst the garage was out test driving it, and it was the same as OP described. No action would be taken but they were going to put a marker on it and if it was pinged again then they'd escalate things.
LosingGrip said:
All round cooperation. Genius.We're in the 57% who take positive action.
It took me all day, though. The insurers kept saying they'd sent a verification email and I kept telling them they hadn't. It turned out, as I do the car stuff, I had given my email address and, unfortunately, at a different time, my wife's. The two addresses were stored in different parts of the insurer's system which squabbled when instructed to send emails and sent nothing. Eventually I spoke to a young lady whose abilities were streets ahead of her colleagues and she sorted it out.
DickyC said:
It took me all day, though. The insurers kept saying they'd sent a verification email and I kept telling them they hadn't. It turned out, as I do the car stuff, I had given my email address and, unfortunately, at a different time, my wife's. The two addresses were stored in different parts of the insurer's system which squabbled when instructed to send emails and sent nothing. Eventually I spoke to a young lady whose abilities were streets ahead of her colleagues and she sorted it out.
And that's how people can end up uninsured without knowing. E-mails are just not reliable enough for critical information.This is definitely a good initiative. Cuts out the reasonable percentage of ‘genuine error’ uninsured cars and leaves Police free to deal with the remainder who deliberately avoid it.
Insurance isn’t the biggest issue to deal with, but it’s surprising hw much other criminality it throws up.
Insurance isn’t the biggest issue to deal with, but it’s surprising hw much other criminality it throws up.
I'm swapping my daily very soon. But I'm giving the old car to a young relative. However, the car will be uninsured for a few weeks before they collect it and insure it themselves. In the meantime wasn't going to SORN it - thinking already would have paid the month, and it'll sit on my driveway.
But from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
But from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
shost said:
I'm swapping my daily very soon. But I'm giving the old car to a young relative. However, the car will be uninsured for a few weeks before they collect it and insure it themselves. In the meantime wasn't going to SORN it - thinking already would have paid the month, and it'll sit on my driveway.
But from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
Because we failed to tell the insurance company of the change of registration, we unintentionally ran the car uninsured for three months before the Police contacted us. I think there's a lot of slack in the system. But if you do it correctly you can't go wrong.But from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
DickyC said:
Because we failed to tell the insurance company of the change of registration, we unintentionally ran the car uninsured for three months before the Police contacted us. I think there's a lot of slack in the system. But if you do it correctly you can't go wrong.
I think you'll find you were still insured.BertBert said:
DickyC said:
Because we failed to tell the insurance company of the change of registration, we unintentionally ran the car uninsured for three months before the Police contacted us. I think there's a lot of slack in the system. But if you do it correctly you can't go wrong.
I think you'll find you were still insured.shost said:
I'm swapping my daily very soon. But I'm giving the old car to a young relative. However, the car will be uninsured for a few weeks before they collect it and insure it themselves. In the meantime wasn't going to SORN it - thinking already would have paid the month, and it'll sit on my driveway.
But from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
Not due to this, but yes, you need to SORN it doe to Continuous Insurance rules on car tax now…essentially you would get grumpy letter from DVLABut from your experience I should SORN it to avoid a letter?
We went over the toll bridge in London not long ago. We were supposed to have been added to an account so we didn’t have to worry about it. Anyway we weren't added due to an error. We received a letter saying we just need to pay the normal fee.
The odd thing is I thought it was really really strange that all we needed to pay was the fee and not some penalty charge.
Isn’t it great that due to small errors or mistakes we automatically assume a penalty when infact there is no need.
The odd thing is I thought it was really really strange that all we needed to pay was the fee and not some penalty charge.
Isn’t it great that due to small errors or mistakes we automatically assume a penalty when infact there is no need.
Mad Maximus said:
We went over the toll bridge in London not long ago. We were supposed to have been added to an account so we didn’t have to worry about it. Anyway we weren't added due to an error. We received a letter saying we just need to pay the normal fee.
The odd thing is I thought it was really really strange that all we needed to pay was the fee and not some penalty charge.
Isn’t it great that due to small errors or mistakes we automatically assume a penalty when infact there is no need.
Apparently on that bridge everyone gets 1 chance if you don't live local since it went "pay online" only, I did it myself & found out then.The odd thing is I thought it was really really strange that all we needed to pay was the fee and not some penalty charge.
Isn’t it great that due to small errors or mistakes we automatically assume a penalty when infact there is no need.
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